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Tuesday, 27 May 2014

Taste Test: Everyday Teas

I realise I am in a fairly small minority in that I always drink premium loose-leaf tea. Despite loving a cup of splosh I only tend to drink one or two cups a day so I figure that it's worth spending a bit extra to ensure they're of a really good quality. But for many people the supermarket is where they do their tea-shopping and I can't deny that for a famously tea-loving country like Britain, teabags are where it's at.

When I have visitors and people doing work on the house they often look with suspicion at my overflowing cupboard of tins of loose-leaf tea so I decided I should buy a box of regular old teabags for just such an occasion. Who knows, maybe a super-speedy cuppa will appeal to me now and then. But if I'm going to drink regular everyday tea I want to know which one is the best. Of course my "best" might not be everyone else's so I should say that this taste test is highly subjective and based on my own personal preferences; but I will try to give a sense of what each tea offered.

I decided to begin with the big four of British teas: PG tips; Tetley; Typhoo and Yorkshire Tea. All are readily available pretty much everywhere; all are cheap - around 3p per cup; and each of them have their champions. I decided to be quite scientific(ish) in my preparation as I didn't want factors such as strength to impact on my tasting. I brewed each cup for 2 mins and added 10ml of milk. These are the results.

PG tips - 2.9p per pyramid bag. I've always thought that I don't really like PG Tips and it turns out I was right. My first thought was "wow, that's bitter". A really malty brew - like an Assam but without any brightness - I just didn't find this cup in any way thirst quenching. There is a rounded quality to the taste that hits the side of the tongue, but it's totally lacking in any refreshing bright notes. I'm sorry to say that this is one cuppa I would never choose.

Typhoo - 2.7p per round bag. This was the brand I had always thought was my everyday favourite. Certainly it's a brighter tea than PG but lacking any strong personality. I found that my whole tongue was more involved when I drank it but I struggled to find anything to write in my notes. An inoffensive cuppa that I'd be happy enough to drink but I wouldn't get too excited about.

Yorkshire Tea - 3.1p per square bag. One of those teas that (in the south anyway) has come to dominate shelf-space in supermarkets in a way that I don't remember from days gone by. This is the most expensive of the teas and unlike the others they suggest you brew for between 3-5 minutes. That is clearly necessary as two minutes definitely wasn't enough and I had to put the bag back in for another couple of minutes. Once brewed I found it not dissimilar to Typhoo: it hit me more on the side of the tongue but I found its flavour quite like Typhoo and for an extra couple of minutes brewing time I'm not sure I would bother to make the effort. I was once told by a master tea-blender that although most teas need to be brewed for between 3-5 minutes, the big bag companies know that very few people will give it longer than 90 seconds and they blend accordingly. Obviously not at Taylor's of Harrogate who make Yorkshire Tea. That's not a bad thing of course but for the extra brew-time I'd go for a good loose-leaf tea.

Tetley - 2.9p per round bag. Wow, what a surprise. I really liked this cuppa. It was bright and refreshing with that Darjeeling quality and hit me right on the back of the tongue. I found it really thirst-quenching and compared to the other three it stood out. In fact I liked it so much I actually finished the cup with a slice of cake. Praise indeed when you consider I have hundreds of others to choose from!

Just for comparison I then did a blind taste test for Coffee Boy and interestingly he ranked them exactly the same as I had with Tetley at the top, PG at the bottom and Yorkshire and Typhoo pretty evenly rated in the middle. Of course this may speak more about our tea-tasting compatibility than anything else but it was interesting nonetheless.

So there we are: for me Tetley was a clear winner. I've read that in recent years Tetley has been the top seller in Britain and on the evidence of this taste test I can see why. If you have a strong preference I'd love to hear about it and if you're thinking of trying something new I'd say, give Tetley a go. I was genuinely surprised by how enjoyable this cup was and if I was in a rush I'd certainly be happy to drink a quick cup. After feeling pretty disappointed by the other three it was quite heartening to find that at least one of the brands that sell by the millions has a really enjoyable taste.

11 comments
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Hi : an interesting post : I find that I cannot drink any of the above in a regular basis hence I do not keep them in my house : my everyday tea of choice is Twinings Everyday which I would guess would be considered premium everyday : sadly I even carry a few around for emergencies : my lovely ma and pa drink PG and I cannot stand it hence the emergency bags come in to play : looking forward to your next review xx

If you want to know real tea, and not these fake brands, go to the source. Assam, Nilgiri, Darjeeling, Keemun, Yunan, Gunpowder. All these marketed fake tea brands, are made from these real teas, but from leftovers mixed with who knows what. They do not dare to call these teas by their real name and ingredients. Because the real teas are soooo much better.

Yes, I sometimes drink Twinnings, various Earl Grey mixes and stuff, but I am all the time aware that I am not getting the real deal. I also sometimes drink cheap wine, but I know it is not the real deal.

Do yourself a favor tealovers! Take a trip to a real teashop, selling real tea. Buy a sample of Ching Woo and an Assam tea. Talk to the clerk and let him/her explain how to brew and enjoy your tea properly. (yes! clerks in real shops can actually talk, and happens to be able to really help you as a customer! Mindboggling, right?) Then: Go to your place and have a good time wiht some REAL tea!

A Dissenting Vote: I also have an elaborate, perhaps encyclopedic collection of teas from around the world. I find myself regularly reaching for PG Tips. Perhaps I enjoy the bitter taste profile, and find there is a bright note that is hugely refreshing. I had a group of people over to the house, we sampled a range of teas.. You can already guess the favorite. I made a huge batch in a tea urn/samovar with PG Tips.. with a splash of milk - it was hands down the winner - it might be the caffeine talking. Then again, we were secretly using Yak's milk, which is peculiar, and already has lots of high notes to it.. PGT stuff a lot of tea in a bag, and perhaps the huge dose of caffeine is an element... A cuppa PGTips feels a lot more like strong coffee in terms of the buzzz.

None of the above. As someone mentioned, get the actual stuff. Keemun, Assam, Estate Ceylon, etc. Not the chopped up pulverized dust rubbish. I'd actually get the genuine Chinese black teas. Yingdehong Black is a personal favorite. You can only get it imported from Canton, China. Tastes rich with sweet nutty notes and a distinct cocoa flavor. With milk, it's like drinking silky smooth milk chocolate without the heavy sugar content